Inoculation drive hits slow lane as India logs 41k new cases

India’s inoculation drive, after administering nearly 86 lakh doses on 21 June, has slowed down. While the number plummeted to just 17 lakh on 27 June, as per the latest data shared by the Health Ministry, 37,23,367 vaccine doses were administered on Sunday, taking India’s cumulative vaccination coverage to 37.60 crore. Meanwhile, Maharashtra, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are constantly bickering about vaccine shortage, saying they are left with no option but to shut down vaccination centres.

As vaccine numbers have come down, politics has returned in full fervour. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has alleged that that the vaccination figures of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are fake. “We have administered over 87 lakh Covid-19 vaccines (first dose). Vaccination in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat is fake. BJP members can’t question their leaders as they will be called traitors,” Baghel said. The Chhattisgarh CM was in Delhi on Sunday to meet his party leadership. 

The Central government, on the other hand, has brushed aside such allegations, saying more than 1.44 crore (1,44,03,485) balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs and private hospitals to be administered.

The Union government, however, drew flak from former Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, who said that India’s current vaccination rate was “simply not good enough”. He said that the country needs to achieve daily rate of at least 5 to 6 million jabs if the government wanted to inoculate eligible population by end of this year.  

“India’s current vaccination rate of 3 to 4 million per day is simply not good enough. We need to up our game to achieve daily rate of at least 5 to 6 million jabs. Not clear whether the cause is hesitation or insufficient production,” Panagariya said.

The slowdown in vaccination drive has raised the concerns as healthcare experts have already warned about a potential third wave hitting country in September-October. Almost all of them hold that the ferocity of upcoming Covid-19 wave in India would solely depend on vaccination coverage and Covid-appropriate behaviour.

Meanwhile, India reported 41,506 new cases in the last 24 hours. Less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 14 days in a row, taking the country’s active caseload at 454,118. Positivity rate has remained less than 3% for 20 consecutive days, and has remained below 5% for 34 consecutive days now, the Health Ministry data stated.